A 16-year-old boy on his way to Bradenton nearly bit into one of those needles.

"The goal was to hurt people going to America," William Drogt speculates.

The Drogt family just finished a two week vacation to Amsterdam. On Sunday, Jack Drogt took a Delta flight to Minneapolis while the rest of the family headed to Sarasota. Acrosstwo separate flights,father and son shared the same horrifying experience as they bit into a turkey and cheese sandwich.

William says, "I was a few bites in. I see a black dot in the center of the sandwich. Iwonder what it is and I pull it out."

William says the cabin lights were low and he was unable to see well. He showed the long sharp item to his mother.

"At first I think it'slead from a pencil. My mom inspects it and we see the eye of the needle --a sewing needle in the sandwich. We are very alarmed."

The sewing needle is more than an inch long. The family alerted the flight attendants, who document the flight information on a napkin for them.

"What I found interesting is the way the needle was positioned straight with the sandwich, not at an angle. Itseemed deliberately placed," says William. He adds, "Could be a precursor to doing more, likepoisoning the food."

William says when he flies again he will still eat the food, but next time he'll be more careful. He says, "I will look through it before I eat it."